Wedge:
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a Goguryeo tribe in Liaodong County in the northeast of our country, which established the Kingdom of Goryeo, which was called Liaodong in the ancient times of our country. The Goryeo Kingdom and the neighboring countries and tribes at that time often had wars, very dead and wounded many people. Emperor Wen and Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty intended to occupy this place four times, but failed four times. When he heard that the Tang Dynasty was newly established, King Gao Jianwu hurriedly sent an envoy to make reparation, saying that he would submit to the court and be willing to release the Chinese who had been exiled because of the war.
Li Yuan, the founder of the Tang Dynasty, said, "The name must match the reality. Goryeo had expressed its willingness to be a vassal of Sui, but it ended up fighting with Emperor Yang, so how can it be considered a vassal of the state? Now we are the most important thing is to stabilize people's hearts, this is not first put down before saying?" After Wen Yanbo and other ministers repeatedly persuade, Li Yuan reluctantly agreed to repair, but in the bottom of his heart, he and this small country in the east is very difficult to get along.
The Goryeo country often and neighboring Silla country, Baekje country war, two small countries can not resist, but also to help. Tang Taizong, who had just become the emperor, was still fighting with the northern Turkic Empire, so he could not think about this, and could only send an envoy, Zhu Zixiao, to persuade the three countries to go to the battlefield. The three countries were persuaded to leave the country for the time being.
Later, when Tang Taizong attacked Goryeo, he said: "Liaodong is originally a place in China, and in the past the Sui Dynasty could not win in four conquests. The purpose of this conquest is to avenge the deaths of those who died in the previous dynasty. Besides, most of the world has been pacified, and there is only one place left to be conquered. I have to take advantage of the fact that I haven't completely aged yet to occupy it together with everyone." It can be seen that the Tang Dynasty's attack on Goryeo was a long-planned plot.
I. Mutual suspicion to explore the imperial family, in vain to cause trouble to kill the king
Waiting until the Tang Dynasty defeated the Turkic, captured the Gili Khan, the national strength became more and more powerful. The king of Goryeo was even more worried, and hastened to grovel to offer a map of the feudal domain, which in ancient times meant absolute submission. Li Shimin did not say anything else, but first sent an envoy, Changsun Shi, to destroy the Jingguan (a huge mound of earth), which had been built by the local people with the bones of the Sui people to boast of their victory. Looking at the Tang Dynasty envoys such behavior, Jianwu Wang suspicion increased, quietly along the northeast Fuyu to the southwest of the sea, build a thousand miles of Great Wall defense. After a while, he sent Prince Huan Quan to pay homage to see what the Tang Dynasty thinks of Goryeo.
Tang Taizong, in response to his plan, also asked Chen Dade, the minister of Guangzhou, to return the courtesy, and in the process to spy on the truth. Chen Dade and his men there everywhere to buy Goryeo officials, collected a lot of detailed information; and often chat with the Chinese people living there, say who relatives are still there, who has what changes in their hometown, make everyone quite like him, what are to him. Soon Chen Dade will be the local situation inquired about a clear, back to Li Shimin report, said: "I heard that Gaochang is also occupied by us, Goryeo's big on the Lu (the equivalent of China's prime minister) three times to run to our ambassadors stayed in the place to greet na." Tang Taizong smiled and said, "There are only four counties in Goryeo; I will send tens of thousands of soldiers to attack Liaodong, and then take Pyongyang along the coast from Donglai - it is too easy to destroy them. Only we have just made the country a little peaceful, we can't labor the common people." And that was put aside.
This side of Tang Taizong did not want to use force, Goryeo country first chaos. It turns out that a big Goryeo pair of Lu died, his son Quan Gai Suwen in power, looking for an opportunity to Jianwu king to kill, set up Jianwu king's younger brother's son of the hide as the new king, their own power. When Emperor Tang Taizong heard of this, he sent a messenger to offer condolences, and was advised to attack Goryeo on this pretext. He said: "Gai Suwen killed his own monarch, monopolized the power of the dynasty, unpopular, to punish him is not easy? But I don't want to make the people of the world work too hard. But just watching him do such bad things won't do, I plan to use the Khitan and other border peoples to crusade against them, what do you all think na?" Minister Changsun Wuji suggested: "Gai Suwen knows that his crime is not small, surely guard against us, Your Majesty, you first hold back, so that he feels at ease. Why don't we first write a letter to comfort the newly established king and stabilize the people's hearts first. This will make the Goryeo people less wary." Li Shimin thought this was a good idea and adopted it.
In 644 A.D., it happened that Goryeo and Baekje joined forces to attack Silla and captured several towns and cities, and Silla could not stand it, so they hurriedly called messengers to ask for help. Tang Taizong came up with a few ideas for them, he said: "To rescue you, I will send some troops and then unite the local Khitan and other ethnic groups to attack Liaodong. The second is to give you some Tang army flag uniforms, most likely those two countries will be afraid to see, maybe they will withdraw their troops. Third, let the Tang army attack Baekje by sea. You guys think that one is a good idea?"
This Silla messenger secretly muttered, these are far from a fire, we want you to send a large army to fight Goryeo to relieve our siege na. But do not know how to reply well, a frozen there. So Li Shimin first sent the agricultural prime minister Ri Xuan award to mediate, told everyone to retreat, back to the pre-war state. But Gai Suwen said that those occupied places, originally Goryeo's territory, how do not agree to retreat, Sangri Xuan award can not help, back to the country to report. Tang Taizong saw the opportunity, decided to conquer Goryeo, but his courtiers have not yet studied this thing na.
The second time to discuss the military first to strengthen the foundation of the country, and the righteous division early transportation of grain and grass
Tang Taizong wanted to attack Goryeo, first and ministers to discuss what are the advantages and disadvantages of sending troops. Chu Sui-liang, the counselor, disagreed with the expedition, saying, "It's good that your majesty won the battle this time, but if you can't, it's dangerous for the country and for you." Li Shiji, the Minister of War, retorted, "Last time, Your Majesty intended to follow up and destroy the Xue Yantuo tribe that came to invade, but was persuaded by Wei Zheng. At that time, if we really did that, Xue Yantuo's ministry wouldn't even be able to return home with a single horse. Now that they have slowed down and come to harass us often, I feel regretful when I think of that incident." Tang Taizong replied, "It was indeed Wei Zheng's fault, I regretted it at that time, but I didn't show it in order to set up an example for everyone to be outspoken and admonish." Despite this explanation, many courtiers still opposed the emperor's expedition to Liaodong. Everyone felt that Tang Taizong leading his troops to attack such a faraway place, leaving such a big empire unattended, would not be good to deal with in case the Turk in the Northwest attacked again, or if someone from within took advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos. Tang Taizong thought these ideas were quite reasonable, so he left the Crown Prince to guard the rear in Dingzhou, then matched him with several loyal and wise ministers such as Ma Zhou, and told Fang Xuan Ling to stay in Chang'an to govern the country. He felt that his heart was much more secure when he went on the expedition.
There were still many people who opposed the expedition, and Tang Taizong explained: "In ancient times, Yao and Shun, even if they were wise and holy, would not have planted the land in the winter; ordinary farmers, if they sowed seeds in the spring, they would reap a harvest, which is due to the reason of conforming to the heavenly times. Goryeo Quan Gai Suwen is practicing tyranny, and the people are looking at us with their necks stretched out to see when we are going to rescue them, and this is the time of the year. Everyone said so many objections, but none of them talked about this. Please don't worry, we will win this time." Saying this, there were fewer objections.
In the seventh month of the fall of 644 A.D., Emperor Tang Taizong ordered Yan Lide, the general's governor, to wait until Hongzhou, Raozhou, and Jiangzhou, and to build four hundred ships, which were to be used to carry military grain. He also sent Zhang Jian, the governor of Yingzhou, to cross the Liao River with 20,000 men to test the strength of Goryeo. When he arrived at the edge of Liao River, there was a flood, and Zhang Jian saw that he could not cross the river for a while, so he had to go back to Yingzhou. Tang Taizong thought that Zhang Jian was cowardly and was not satisfied. So Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia County, volunteered to take a hundred cavalry to go there and study the terrain and narrowness of the enemy. When he came back, he found that the Goryeo soldiers had cut off the way back, so he hurriedly made a detour and returned to the Tang Dynasty safely. Zhang Jian arrived in Chang'an, the specific reasons for the retreat, and then the local situation of the mountains and rivers, people and customs explained in detail, Tang Taizong was very happy to hear, and still asked him to take the Yingzhou soldiers as a guide.
As for the grain, part of it is placed in the north of Yingzhou, and part of it exists in the east of the city of Gudong. The northern part of the grain and grass is let too often secretary Wei Ting is responsible for transportation, Wei Ting's father Wei Chong, is the Sui Dynasty Yingzhou assassin, once followed Emperor Yang attacked Liaodong, leaving a lot of lessons for the descendants. Wei Ting learned a lesson from the last time Emperor Yang, did not transport grain by land. Instead, it was transferred northward along the Sangqian River of the Jinzhou, not realizing that when winter came, most of the rivers in the north were frozen, and the grain ships could not move forward. He had to put the rice and grain down in the southwest of Youzhou Lusidai, intending to wait until the beginning of spring and then transport the rice forward. Followed by a busy book to excuse themselves, said wait until next year when the army attack, grain will certainly be transported. Tang Taizong looked very unhappy, said to the ministers: "the day of the army has not been determined na, how so sure is next spring? If I plan to enter the army now, the supply of food and grass how to do na." He sent someone to check this matter, and the investigator reported that Wei Ting was at fault for starting the transportation without investigating and dredging the river. So he was removed from his post, and found another person to replace him. In fact, Wei Ting knows Liaodong winter cold, muddy land, the army is impossible to fight, judgment to is quite accurate, but Tang Taizong is not willing to let others perceive the military opportunity, only to arrest him for the crime, really wrong.
The eastern rations were handed over to Xiao Rui, the junior minister of the Taiservants, whose responsibility it was to send the military rations surrendered on the Henan Road along the coast to the battlefield.
These actions made a storm and touched Gai Suwen, who felt that he had made a big mistake, and hurriedly sent messengers with gold to offer, and sent fifty domestic nobles to serve as hostages to make amends to the court. But Tang Taizong did not accept any of them, the messengers scolded, and then all captured and imprisoned.
The third time to show the national prestige of the generals and soldiers brave, honoring the king of the people enthusiastically
Before the war, it is very important to select the generals who will lead the troops. Li Jing, the man who captured the Turkic Khan, was the right man for the job, but by this time he was too old. Tang Taizong brought him to consult: "The court relied on you to level the south of Jiangnan, the north broke the Turkic, the west to determine the Tugukhun. Now there is still Goryeo left in the northeast, how about it, are you still willing to go on a crusade with me?" Li Jing got up and replied, "In the past, I relied on the blessing of Your Majesty's mighty spirit to create a little success. Today, although I am old and sick, if the court is willing to use me, these illnesses will naturally be cured." Tang Taizong looked at the sick look, can't bear to ask him to lead the army, just let Li Jing follow to Xiangzhou, see really sick can't get up, ask him to stay and recuperate.
But Tang Taizong around there is no lack of excellent generals, Li Shiji, Li Daozong, Xue Wanchu, Cheng Mingzhen and other generals, are courageous and resourceful, good at marching and fighting generation. There is a retired officer called Zheng Yuan cast, previously followed the Sui Emperor Yang expedition to Liaodong, he suggested that: "to go to Liaodong is a long way, food transportation is particularly difficult, in the past, when Emperor Yang went on a campaign, a quintal of food to be transported in turn to the front line of three folk. Dong Yi is also very good at defending the city, it is not easy to take down, your majesty can be careful na." Tang Taizong replied, "How can the Sui Dynasty be compared with us, you see."
As soon as the news spread that the court was going to conquer Goryeo, many people enlisted in the army. There was a man from Longmen, Xue Rengui, who was originally an honest farmer. Some people advised him not to be poor and lowly, but to join the army and build up a reputation. He thought this was quite reasonable, so he went to the general Zhang Shigui and enlisted in the army.
The Great Tang one*** conscripted soldiers from the sixteen provinces, totaling hundreds of thousands of men. In November 644 AD, Tang Taizong ordered Zhang Liang, the Minister of Justice, to be the Grand Governor of the Pyongyang Road March, leading 40,000 sailors from Jiangnan, Huaihe, Lingnan, and the Three Gorges, and recruiting 3,000 volunteers in Chang'an and Luoyang, and setting out on 300 warships, with a route that took them from Donglai in Shandong province, across the Bohai Sea, and straight to the Goryeo capital, Pyongyang. With Li Shiji, the Minister of War, and Li Daozong, the King of Jiangxia County, as the head and deputy marching generals of Liaodong Dao, they led a foot and cavalry force*** of 60,000 soldiers, interspersed with some troops of the minorities who had submitted to the northwestern part of the country, and attacked Liaodong along the land route. The two armies set out at the same time. At the end of November, a number of troops arrived in Youzhou, and the two of them, Jiang Xingben, the Chief Marching Officer, and Qiu Xingyong, the Junior Superintendent of the Shaofu, supervised the craftsmen there at Anluo Mountain in the manufacture of a variety of siege implements. During this period of time, many warriors volunteered to join the army, and many people offered their own invention or collection of siege equipment, which Emperor Tang Taizong accepted and adopted according to the actual situation.
Soon after, Li Shimin ordered the whole world, saying, "Gai Suwen murdered his own ruler and mistreated the people, so I am going to crusade against him. Wherever the army passes through, please do not need to make a big reception." He also analyzed, "Emperor Yang failed to conquer Goryeo because he was brutal and King Goryeo was kind. Nowadays, however, I have five contrasts that can guarantee victory. First, a large country to attack a small country; Second, a righteous division to crush the rebellion; Third, a stable and united country to attack the state of mourning; Fourth, to wait for the laborers, energy is enough; Fifth, the people are happy to follow me and resent Gai Suwen. With such a comparison, are you still afraid of not winning? The whole world need not worry na." However, with the lesson of Emperor Yang in front of him, Emperor Taizong was still careful about this, making offerings along the way, saving what he could, and trying to reduce the burden on the people as much as possible.
When the army was about to leave, a man named Li Daliang, who was very outspoken, wrote a letter to the emperor before he died, saying many practical reasons, firmly opposed to the expedition, but how could this stop the ambitious Tang Taizong.
The fourth time, the Goryeo people and the army were afraid of the Liaodong city under the general manager of the fear
645 A.D. just the beginning of spring, Tang Taizong personally led the army from Luoyang to the north.
Not long after his departure, Fang Xuanling, who had stayed in Chang'an, received a secret report of a rebellion. After inquiring into the matter, it turned out to be an accusation that Fang Xuanling was plotting a rebellion. He did not dare to take the matter into his own hands, and hurriedly sent the informant to the emperor's camp. Tang Taizong heard this can be angry, first called the guards with a long sword in hand to stand around, and then asked the informer to sue who, the man said back: "room xuan ling." Tang Taizong said really guessed well: some people are not happy with the room Xuan Ling in charge of state affairs, to fix him to do so. He beheaded the informer on the spot. Then he wrote a letter scolding Fang Xuan Ling, saying that he was too cautious, and in the future there are such false accusations, let him deal with it on the spot.
Li Shiji's troops, who traveled by land, set out early, pretending to attack from Huaiyuan Town, and then quietly crossed the Liao River from the north to Xuanzu Castle, in the summer of 645 A.D. The Goryeo people were terrified, and the Goryeo people were in a state of shock. The Goryeo people were terrified and hurriedly contracted to their respective cities for defense. Soon, Li Daozong's thousands of soldiers also attacked the city, and his subordinate, Cao Sanliang, with only a dozen cavalrymen, rushed under the city wall and circled around. The many soldiers and civilians in Xinshi were so frightened that they did not dare to come out to fight. Yingzhou troops led by Zhang Jian and local minority reinforcements pressed on from the Liao River to Jian'an City, where they defeated the enemies who came out to fight.
The small victory of the vanguard was quite encouraging to the Tang army. Immediately afterward, Li Shiji and Li Daozong quickly took the city of Gaimou, capturing 20,000 inhabitants and obtaining more than 100,000 stones of grain. Subsequently into the Liaodong city, this time Tang Taizong from Beiping to Liaodong, the road to pass more than 200 miles, muddy Liaoze, will be made of the master Yan Lide in the road to build earth bridges, the troops did not suffer any obstacles on the past. The army has not yet arrived, Goryeo reinforcements foot and horseback 40,000 people appeared in front of the front line. Most of the Tang generals suggested that they should first defend themselves and wait for the arrival of Tang Taizong's army before engaging in a battle. However, Li Daozong insisted on attacking: "The enemy thought that they could defeat us by virtue of the large number of men despite the fatigue of the long journey, so I think we should take this opportunity to hit them hard. Besides, we, as the vanguard, are to clear the way for the arrival of the multiplying marshes, can we still leave the enemy for the Emperor to fight on his own?" Saying this, Li Shiji also felt that it made sense, so he led his army against the enemy. Ma Wenju, the captain of Goi, shouted loudly when he was about to fight: "How can we show our bravery if we don't run into the vicious enemy?" So the horse straight pounced, rushed to disorganize the enemy, the Tang army was inspired, and together they rushed up to fight with the Goryeo army. I didn't realize that Zhang Junyi, the chief marching officer, was afraid of death and retreated halfway through the battle. At the moment of crisis, Li Daozong hurriedly gathered the retreating soldiers, and he found that the enemy's formation had been disorganized, and immediately led dozens of cavalrymen to kill into the encirclement, rushing left and right. Li Shiji followed the trend and attacked fiercely, finally breaking the Goryeo army.
Shortly after the battle was over, the emperor also arrived under Liaodong Castle, where he removed the bridge over the Liao River, stating that he did not intend to return home until he was victorious, and then stationed his army under Mashou Mountain near Liaodong Castle. Tang Taizong praised Li Daozong, promoted Ma Wenju to the post of Zhonglang General, and beheaded Zhang Junyi on the spot for deserting the battlefield. Then he took a few hundred cavalry to patrol under Liaodong City.
At the bottom of the city, Tang Taizong saw the warriors carrying earth to fill the moat, and he also participated with great enthusiasm, picking more and heavier earth to fill. His subordinates followed his example and rushed to carry the earth to the bottom of the city, and in no time the moat was filled in. Li Shiji besieged Liaodong City with all his might, fighting for twelve days before and after, repairing the long siege which was already several hundreds of weights, and the sound of golden drums and shouts under the city shook the sky and the earth. After a few days, the south wind blew, the Tang soldiers climbed on the pole, with torches lit the southwest building of the city, the fire spread around. The generals took advantage of the situation to rush in, although the Goryeo soldiers and people resisted with all their might, they were not able to stop them. Liaodong city was captured, more than 10,000 soldiers and soldiers in the city died in battle, more than 10,000 were captured, and 40,000 people. The Tang Dynasty changed this city into Liao-zhou and the previously captured city of Gaimou into Gaizhou.
After the occupation of Liaodong City, the nearby Baiyan City got scared and hurriedly contacted Emperor Tang Taizong to ask for surrender, and after being allowed to do so, it reversed its position halfway through the battle. Tang Taizong was furious and led his troops to attack the city, and sent a message to the whole army: "As long as we take this city, we will reward all the population and goods in the city to the generals!" At this time, good news also came from the army that set out along the coastal road.
The fifth time, the generals of the naval division won the battle without courage, and the army of the land road was trapped in the battle of Anan City
The naval army crossed the sea from Donglai, and attacked the city of Beisha first. The city was surrounded by high walls and only the west gate was climbable. Late one night, the vanguard Cheng Mingzhen led his troops to kill, and his deputy governor Wang Wendu was the first to climb into the city. Summer, May, the city was broken, captured more than eight thousand people. Subsequently, Zhang Liang sent another governor Qiu Xiaozhong in the Yalu River to unfold the troops, deterring the Goryeo people.
July, the navy advanced to the city of Jian'an, the army had not yet set up a camp fence, the Goryeo army suddenly killed. The big chief Zhang Liang panicked, do not know how to deal with, scared silly sitting on the bed of Hu, two eyes straight, words have forgotten to say. Fortunately, the Tang army is well trained, officers and soldiers look at him that way, but also thought he was fearless, calm as a mountain, actually each calm down, turn to the enemy. Vice general Zhang Jinshu take advantage of the situation to sound the drum to launch a counterattack, the generals then bravely charge and kill, greatly broken the incoming enemy troops, and won a burst. At this moment, Baekam City has long been captured, the Tang Dynasty army gathered under the city of Anan, is trying to move to take the whole country of Goryeo na.
May, Tang Taizong commanded the generals to attack Baekam Castle, the right general Li Simo (Ashina Simo) was hit by a crossbow arrow, Tang Taizong personally in front of the battlefield for him to suck the blood to heal his wounds, and the generals who knew about this matter, all of them were touched by a great deal of, to meet the enemy more courageous spirit.
Wu Bone City of Goryeo sent troops to reinforce Baiyan City, and was intercepted by the Tang general Chibi He Li, who led 800 cavalrymen into the enemy line. In the melee, he was stabbed in the waist by a lance, and the enemy soldiers took the opportunity to encircle him, and he could not resist the enemy. When he was in danger, the general Xue Wanbei rode in alone and drew out the enemy in the midst of thousands of people. He Li thinks that such a failure is a disgrace, immediately in the formation of the wound on the waist will be a simple bandage, and turned back to kill the enemy, the Goryeo army can not be He Li and his men of valor, a great rout, fleeing dozens of miles, but fortunately darkness came down, the Tang army did not go deeper to pursue, Wu Bone reinforcements were spared from being wiped out. Soon, stabbed Chebi He Li's soldier high abruptly Bo was captured, Tang Taizong called He Li to deal with their own, He Li thought about it and said: "He defended his country, braving the battlefield like rain sharp dysprosium and stabbed me, is really loyal and courageous heroes na. Besides, we do not know each other, not what personal grudges, why kill him?" Called the people will Gao Tubo let go.
In June, Sun Daiyin, the lord of Baiyan City, saw that he could not resist, and quietly sent his men to contact him to surrender, which was allowed. Tang Taizong told the messenger to go back with the flag of the Tang army and planted it on the city, and the soldiers and civilians in the city, thinking that the Tang army had already entered the city, put down their weapons and surrendered. At this moment, Li Shiji requested Tang Taizong to fulfill his promise and turn all the soldiers and civilians of Baiyan into slaves of the Tang army generals. After hearing this request, Tang Taizong dismounted from his horse and apologized to him, saying, "You are right in practicing your promise and showing your trust to people. But to indulge the warriors to the city to kill and pillage, I really can't bear to do so. In this way, the general's subordinates meritorious, I all with their own private money reward, even if the ransom of this city soldiers and civilians it." The emperor is so lenient, Li Shiji also no longer argue.
More than 10,000 people in Baekam Castle were preserved, and the Goryeo soldiers who came from other places to participate in the defense of Baekam Castle were also comforted and given money for the journey to return to where they were going. When Gaimou City fell, there had been seven hundred people who had come in to help from Gamo City were also captured by the Tang army. At this moment, seeing Tang Taizong being so magnanimous, they were very touched and volunteered to join the Tang army to fight. But Tang Taizong refused, telling them, "All of you have your homes in Gaji City, if you fight for me, your families will have to suffer, and I really can't do it to destroy a family in order to get any of you, so please go home individually." After a few days, travel money was given out for the men to go home as well.
After capturing Baiyan, Tang Taizong conferred with Li Shiji and said, "I heard that the city of Anshi is dangerous and the warriors are very good, especially that city lord, who is very talented. In the past, when Gai Suwen rebelled, this person did not obey, and how could Gai Suwen not defeat this city before he gave it to him to manage. I think it is better to attack Jian'an city first, if we take Jian'an, the city will be surrounded, much better. The art of war says: the city is not attacked, that's what it means." Li Shiji thought about it and replied, "Jian'an is in the south, An city is in the north, our army's food is all in Liaodong city, now that we are crossing An city to attack Jian'an, it will be troublesome if the food route is cut off. Why don't we attack An Shi first and take this city, then Jian An will not be difficult to take. "Tang Taizong thought it was reasonable, and said, "In that case, since I take you as my general, of course I must use your way, just don't delay my business well." So attacked the city of An. Honestly speaking, Li Shiji still have layer of meaning not said, that is, the emperor himself, really have any long and short, he can't afford, might as well find the safest method of combat, just so, a lot of good opportunities will be gone.
By the end of June, the Tang army marched to the city of An-shi, which is a major town in Goryeo, and the loss of this city will leave the gateway to Pyongyang wide open, with no dangers to fall back on. So the Goryeo Kingdom hurriedly sent the northern mattresses Sa Gao Yangsu and Gao Huizhen to marshal 150,000 soldiers of the Goryeo and Mohee tribes to reinforce the city of An-shi.
The sixth time, Shi Xian Rengui boasted of his bravery, and Shan Ming bi bi recorded his merits
In the face of Goryeo's reinforcement army, Emperor Tang Taizong discussed with his ministers and said, "I stand on Gao Yanshou's side and think about it, and there are three tactics to deal with me: to draw the troops to Anshi City as a horn, and to guard the high mountains and dangerous fortresses, and to use the food in the city to feed the army, and then to let the Mohe people go around to seize the cattle, horses and food, which would make it impossible for the Tang troops to win the attack in a short time, and to retreat and be blocked by the mud in the autumn. This is the best strategy to make the Tang army unable to win the attack in a short time, and to retreat and be hindered by the mud in the fall, so as to trap our army without a fight. Escape to Goryeo mainland with army and people in the city, this is the middle strategy. If he doesn't have the courage to attack our army, it's the next best thing. Look everyone, they will definitely come up with the next strategy, I can see the sight of how Gao Yanshou will be captured."
Sure enough, Gao Yanshou did not listen to the experienced veterans and attacked the Tang army with his troops. Into the city only forty miles from the city of An, Tang Taizong also worried about the Goryeo army change their mind in the middle of the day, so he sent the left guard general Ashina Duer with two thousand Turkic cavalry to lure the enemy, and just once the battle was fraudulently defeated and fled. All this, see the Goryeo people laughed, encourage each other said: "easy to fight ah." Then they rushed forward with great vigor, and formed an array in front of a mountain eight miles southeast of the city of Anshi, intending to break the Tang army.
To meet the Goryeo army. Tang Emperor Taizong took hundreds of cavalrymen, and Changsun Wuji and other ministers to the top of the mountain to look at the high place, to understand the terrain of the enemy. When Emperor Taizong saw the Goryeo and Moheban soldiers in a 40-mile-long formation, he was concerned and looked a little sad. Jiangxia County King Li Daozong took the opportunity to suggest: "Since Goryeo dumped the country to come to a duel, Pyongyang's defense is certainly not strong, your majesty give me five thousand elite troops, take that fundamental land, let the enemy can not retreat, in front of these hundreds of thousands of heavy soldiers will certainly surrender without a fight." Tang Taizong did not answer, he reckoned to have enough troops to defeat the Goryeo coalition, so as to show his divine martial arts and heroism it.
In order to reduce the enemy's fighting spirit, Tang Taizong sent a messenger to Meng Gao Yanshou, saying, "I have come to ask Gai Suwen about the crime of murdering the monarch, and it is not my intention to fight with you. When I came to your territory, there was not enough food, so I took a few cities to get food. When the Goryeo Kingdom is internally stabilized, what you have lost must be returned." Gao Yanshou thought that we have many people, it seems that Tang Taizong is really afraid, so let's agree to it first, and slowly, the guard was loosened a lot.
Tang Taizong saw the success of the scheme, immediately held a military meeting at night, ordered Li Shiji with 15,000 foot riders in the West Ridge array, Changsun Wuji with 10,000 elite troops for the enemy as a surprise, their own command of 4,000 foot riders, quietly ascending the north mountain ambush, agreed to the army hear the sound of the drums and horns, then rushed out together to kill the enemy. The next day, Gao Yanshou and others found Li Shiji with troops in formation, and hurriedly reorganized their troops and prepared to meet the battle. At this very moment, Tang Taizong saw that Changsun Wuji's strange army had moved, and the dust rose up, so he ordered his subordinates to blow the drums and horns, and raise the flag, so that the whole army rushed out with a great roar. Goryeo's generals saw the Tang army's momentum, and hurriedly commanded their troops to split up to meet the enemy, causing their military formation to be in a state of confusion. God will also rush the time, dark clouds cover the top, loud thunder and lightning come out, intending to rain some autumn rain to help.
Xue Rengui, an honest farmer who enlisted in the army, is now wearing a white robe, with a white cloth belt around his head, carrying a halberd and riding an inferior horse, leading the way into the Goryeo army. In the dark sky, reflected by the thunder and lightning, his figure was even more distinct. Xue Rengui shouted loudly, straight to kill, blockers, invincible. The two armies suddenly appeared in the formation of such a hero, even Tang Taizong was dumbfounded, the Goryeo people are even more shocked, have retreated. The Tang army took advantage of the strong attack, the enemy army was defeated, scattered in all directions, about 20,000 people were killed. After the battle, Emperor Tang Taizong promoted Xue Rengui to the rank of guerrilla general and said to him, "In this eastward expedition, I am more pleased to have discovered a talent like you than to have captured a city. Work hard."
After Gao Yanshou's great defeat, he collected the remnants of his army of 36,800 men and fortified himself against the mountains. The Tang army closed in on all sides, and Changsun Wuji cut off all the bridges near the encirclement. Gao Yanshou had no choice but to surrender. He knelt and walked from the entrance of the Tang camp to the foot of the Son of Heaven, asking for disposition. Tang Taizong laughed and said: "The young man of the East Barbarians, in the corner of the sea to show off is okay. To really touch the decisive time, and I have seen a lot of knowledge of the old man is still far from it. Still dare to fight with the son of heaven?" Goryeo generals lying on the ground without words to answer. Tang Taizong selected the three thousand chiefs below the mattress sa, granted them military positions, and moved them to the interior. The rest of the Goryeo people were released back to Pyongyang. When the captives received this good news, they all raised their hands and kowtowed in gratitude, and their cheers resounded for dozens of miles around. The Mohe people were a bit more miserable, as 3,300 of them were captured and buried alive, supposedly to punish them for violating the emperor's imperial chariot. The battle yielded 50,000 horses, 50,000 oxen, 10,000 collars of iron armor, and other material abounded.
Tang Taizong also regarded this battle as his life's triumph, and wrote to the crown prince and ministers who stayed behind to boast, "I'm a general when it comes to this, what do you think?" and named the mountain where he ambushed himself as Gwunbi Mountain to commemorate the occasion. And the Goryeo people, hearing of this defeat, did not intend to defend the city to the death, and the soldiers and civilians of Hohwangseong and Yinsungseong retreated. From the city of An to Pyongyang, there were no people in the area for hundreds of miles. But the city of An still insisted on resistance, not intending to surrender.
Seventh, I did not expect the autumn rain has come suddenly, but I sigh Wei Zheng why early death
July in the autumn, Tang Taizong issued an edict to mark the bodies of those who died in battle, and when the army returned to the country to carry them back together. He also named the surrendered general Gao Yanshou as the Minister of Honglu and Gao Huizhen as the Minister of Sinnong. It seems he is ready to go home.
In August, Gao Zhuli, a spy, was captured and personally questioned by Emperor Tang Taizong, who untied the man and asked him, "Why are you so thin?" Gao Zhu Li replied: "Because to avoid the road check, take the gap forward, a few days without eating." Tang Taizong rewarded him with a meal, and then said, "Since you are a spy, you must hurry back to resume your duties, and send a message to Mo Li Zhi Gai Suwen on my behalf, that if you want to inquire about the news of our army, you can directly send someone to me and ask for it, and do not have to work so hard in a quiet way." Called the people to put him back. Before leaving, Tang Taizong saw that Gao Zhuli was barefoot and gave him another pair of shoes.
Anshi could not be defeated in any way, but the defenders of Anshi did not dare to go out of the city to fight. Tang Taizong just sent more scouts to reconnoiter, and simply didn't build camp fences and trenches when he set up camp. Tang army warriors are just single to go out to do business, the field casually lodging do not have to worry about anything, and in China is also similar.
From the day the army arrived in Liaodong, it took six months before and after the attack, but Muo Li Zhi Gai Suwen quietly sent a messenger to contact the northwestern tribe of Xue Yantuo, abetting them to attack China. Xueyantuo real pearl Khan is quite moved, sent envoys to spy, Tang Taizong bluntly sent them said: "Tell your real pearl Khan, I now attack Goryeo, you want to sneak attack on China, even tube quickly come is!" This word reached the ears of Zhenzhu Khan, but he was scared, and hurriedly sent another messenger to apologize, and expressed willingness to send troops to help, was rejected by Tang Taizong.
The Anshi people saw that the Tang army could not do anything about them, and their confidence gradually grew. Whenever they saw Tang Taizong's carriage passing underneath the city, they stood on the city wall and shouted insults. Emperor Taizong was furious, Li Shiji was also angry, and asked him for instructions to bury all the people in the city alive after the conquest. When the soldiers and civilians of An-shi heard this news, they defended even more desperately. Anshi was harder to be conquered. Gao Yanshou and Gao Huizhen, the generals who accompanied the army, suggested that they should take Wubu Castle behind Anshi and then go straight to Pyongyang. The ministers also thought this was a good idea and told Emperor Taizong that Zhang Liang's troops had also arrived at Peisha City, so they could join forces to capture Wubong and then cross the Yalu River to Pyongyang. However, Changsun Wuji was firmly against it for a simple reason: "The Son of Heaven himself is different from ordinary generals, and should never take advantage of the danger and get away with it. Now the enemy in An-shi and Jian-an is about 100,000, if we go around, we can't rule out the possibility that our rear army will be attacked. When the Son of Heaven goes to war, we must be prepared for anything. It's better to break An City first, then take Jian'an, and then drive in." Tang Taizong couldn't refute this reason, and then thought that he didn't have enough troops anyway, so it was better to continue the siege of An City. In this way, in order to be safe, instead of being able to use surprise troops, the upper strategy has become the lower strategy.
One day, the people of Anshi planned to take advantage of the Tang army's prolonged attack to slacken off and make a sneak attack. I did not expect to kill chickens to reward the death squad, the sound of boiling, was heard by the Tang Taizong, he judged that the enemy most likely want to sneak attack, tightly on guard. Sure enough, at night, hundreds of Goryeo death squad members hung down from the city with ropes. When Tang Taizong found out, he personally led his troops to meet them at the bottom of the city and killed dozens of them, while the others retreated back and have not dared to come out ever since.
Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, commanded his troops to build a high hill of earth and gradually approached the southeast corner of the city, and the people of Anshi also resisted by raising their own walls ever higher. Soldiers from both sides attacked and killed each other on the high ground for six or seven days, and the Tang army used chariots and stones to break down the citadel, and the Anshi people immediately put up large wooden fences to plug the gaps. Sixty days before and after, using about half a million laborers, only to repair the earth mountain to only a few feet away from the city. One night, the earth mountain collapsed and crushed the city wall, the Tang general Fu Fu Ai in charge of guarding left his post, and there was no one to command the mountain. Goryeo soldiers immediately rushed out from the gap in the wall, occupied the earth mountain, dug out a long trench on guard. Tang Taizong saw such a good opportunity lost in vain, heart very angry, kill Fu Fu Ai in front of the army. Li Daozong also barefoot to the flag of the army to ask for pardon, Tang Taizong seriously told him: "You sin indeed deserve to die. But since it is like Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty to kill Wang Qi and loss of generals, it is better to be like Emperor Mu of Qin to re-use Meng Ming vision can still win, not to mention that you also have to break the Gai Mou, Liaodong's credit, this time, especially to spare you."